Fantasy Baseball 2021 Starting Pitcher Rankings

Traditionally, I’ve been a wait-on-pitching type of drafter — scooping up three or four exciting bats before even thinking about addressing the rotation. The lack of volume and perhaps the sheer awesome-ness that is a top tier led by Jacob deGrom has changed things here just a bit. DeGrom, Shane Bieber and Gerrit Cole have become first-round staples as we navigate a pre-season riddled with questions on innings caps. One thing that is certain now that we know that the will be no DH in the NL, deGrom comfortably sits atop this list.

The second tier is where things get truly interesting. Just about everyone ranks Yu Darvish, Trevor Bauer, Max Scherzer, Walker Buehler, Lucas Giolito and Clayton Kershaw as the next handful of arms, but there is absolutely no consensus on who is at the top of the tier. Nola, Darvish and Scherzer were in consideration for the four spot on my list and, despite some health concerns and performance concerns, Max Scherzer continues to occupy that position. Everything went in the wrong direction in 2020 for Max, his K% dipped to a five-year low (albeit at a still excellent 31.2%). He also walked more guys, allowed more hits and homers than in any point since he joined the Nationals. Still, the velocity is just fine, the strikeouts remain elite and we’re banking on Scherzer getting right as he shakes off a forgettable 2020.

As we navigate the lower tiers. I’m planning to leave the draft table with one or two arms from the top couple of tiers while going offense-heavy in the top-100 picks. Beyond that, there are a ton of interesting names, many of which may not survive April on my roster.

ADP Targets

In what will become a theme in this section we look to a couple of grizzled veterans — Max Scherzer (23) and Clayton Kershaw (31) — as two of the names that jump out in the first couple of rounds. Layne Lynn (54) is probably my most-owned pitcher thanks to what should be very reliable innings volume paired with perennially underrated consistency. Kenta Maeda (49) also sticks around a bit longer than his recent performance should allow and can be a nice value after the top-10 is off the board. Digging deeper, I am in on Stephen Strasburg (63) and if your draft room is scared by his constant health concerns, he’s a fine number two if paired with a more stable ace.

Charlie Morton (116), Zack Grienke (97) and Patrick Corbin (126) all get the boring-vet discount but have all the tools to return top-15 value. On the opposite end of his career, Sandy Alcantara (136) leads an up and coming Marlins rotation and is the one you want on your fantasy roster.

In the later rounds, we’re interested in a return from Corey Kluber (150) and Marcus Stroman (202). John Means (264) showed promise down the stretch in 2020. Mike Minor (294) is throwing harder and can offer volume with decent Ks. Robbie Ray (283) looks solid in the spring and Freddy Peralta (312) looks like he might finally get another shot in the rotation.

Top 120-ish Starting Pitcher Rankings for 2021